The placement of a stent-graft is usually performed under general anaesthesia. The interventional radiologist will use surgery to access an artery at the top of your leg for the procedure. They will also insert an angiography catheter through an artery in your right arm for injections of contrast material before and after the placing of the stent-graft. The interventional radiologist will place a guidewire into your aortic arch and will then pass the stent graft over the wire and use this to cover the tear on the inner wall of the aorta. This protects the true lumen from the expansion of the false lumen.

If your case is critical, you may need to undergo additional stenting of these vessels to avoid restricting the blood supply.

If a stent graft is not enough to decompress the false lumen, you may be advised to have a procedure called fenestration of the intimal flap. This means that a hole will be made in the membrane between the true and false lumens to equalise the pressure between them. The interventional radiologist will create a connection between the lumens using a needle and positioning a wire through the puncture site. They will then widen the hole using a tiny balloon and may implant a stent to keep the connection open.